Means of producing artistically variegated multi-colored flock pictures

ABSTRACT

ONE-HALF OF A WATER RESISTANT SHEET HAS A DESIGN OR PICTURE OUTLINED THEREON WITH WHITE FLOCKING APPLIED TO THE VARIOUS PORTIONS BETWEEN THE OUTLINES, AND THE OTHER HALF SERVES AS A TRANSFER FLAP AND HAS A MATCHING DESIGN OR PICTURE IN REVERSE PROVIDED THEREON, THE TRANSFER HALF BEING FOLDABLE OVER THE FIRST HALF TO BRING THE MATCHING DESIGN OR PICTURE INTO REGISTER WITH THE FIRST MENTIONED DESIGN OR PICTURE. ONE MAY COLOR PORTION OF THE MATCHING DESIGN OR PICTURE ON THE TRANSFER HALF USING THE WATER SOLUBLE   COLORING MATERIAL, SO THAT, AFTER THE FLOCKED HALF IS WETTED AND THEREAFTER BLOTTED TO REMOVE EXCESS WATER, THE FIRST MENTIONED DESIGN OR PICTURE IS COLORED BY LIGHT FINGER PRESSURE APPLIED TO THE BACK OF THE TRANSFER HALF. SPACING THE FLOCKED AREAS RELATIVE TO ONE ANOTHER BY COLOR SEPARATION LINES AVOIDS BLURRING BY MIXING OF COLORS ALONG THE EDGES OF NEIGHBORING PORTIONS OF THE FLOCKED DESIGN OR PICTURE.

'Jan. 12, 1971 c. G. OBE RG 3,553,355

MEANS OF PRODUCING ARTISTICALLY VAR-IEGATED MULTI-CQLORED FLOCK PICTURES Filed Sept. 12, 1969 nvvmvron CHARLES G. OBERG United States Patent Gffice 3,553,855 MEANS OF PRODUCING ARTISTICALLY VARI- EGATED MULTI-COLORED FLOCK PICTURES Charles G. Oberg, 209 April Court, Rockford, Ill. 61111 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 495,845, Oct. 14, 1965. This application Sept. 12, 1969, Ser. No. 857,501

Int. Cl. G09b 11/04 U.S. Cl. 35-26 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE One-half of a Water resistant sheet has a design or picture outlined thereon with white flocking applied to the various portions between the outlines, and the other half serves as a transfer flap and has a matching design or picture in reverse provided thereon, the transfer half being foldable over the first half to bring the matching design or picture into register with the first mentioned design or picture. One may color portion of the matching design or picture on the transfer half using Water soluble coloring material, so that, after the flocked half is wetted and thereafter blotted to remove excess water, the first mentioned design or picture is colored by light finger pressure applied to the back of the transfer half. Spacing the flocked areas relative to one another by color separation lines avoids blurring by mixing of colors along the edges of neighboring portions of the flocked design or picture.

This application is continuation-in-part of my copending application, Ser. No. 495,845, filed Oct. 14, 1965, and now Pat. No. 3,492,143, the present application relating to improved means for producing artistically variegated multi-colored flock pictures by a transfer method, while the parent co-pending application relates to the transfer method per so.

A salient feature of my invention is the use of water soluble coloring material on the transfer flap, and water absorbent flock material on the picture to be colored, the flocked areas being embossed to enable obtaining good results with less skill, the flock material being wetted and then any excess water being thereafter removed by blotting, so as to leave the flock damp-dry before the transfer flap is folded over the flocked area and rubbed on the back with fairly light finger pressure to transfer the colors from the flap to the flock, the colors giving a Water color effect, and truly artistic effects being obtainable when the operator learns the knack of getting the desired shading effects and highlighting by applying finger pressure oftener and longer in a selected area or areas and also learns color blending.

Another salient feature is the provision of color separation lines of uniform width between the areas that are flocked, these lines being wide enough to reduce risk of colors running together and blurring the picture, the degree of separation being so small that the resulting picture presents a good water color appearance.

Still another salient feature is the provision on the transfer sheet of numbers from 1 to to designate colors and letters M and L to indicate the degree of pressure to be applied with the colored pencils in coloring the transfer flap, thus light pressure is indicated by the letter L after the number designating the color, medium pressure is indicated by the letter M after the color number, and heavy pressure for solid coloring is indicated by the color number alone, while mixed colorings are represented by fractions like 3/ 1M:solid blue over medium magneta which equals violet, or 1/2L-=solid magenta over light yellow, which equals bright red.

Patented Jan. 12, 1971 The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a foldable generally rectangular blank sheet of white rigid vinyl having an uncolored black and White outline for a picture printed on the right-hand half and its related reversely printed transfer flap on the lefthand half;

FIG. 2 illustrates a set of five appropriately numbered coloring pencils, 1 being magenta (red), 2 yellow, 2 blue, 4 orange, and 5 black;

FIG. 3 illustrates the unit of FIG. 1 with flock applied to the picture half and illustrating coloring of the transfer flap with water soluble coloring materials, using the numbered pencils of FIG. 2 and degrees of pressure applied in accordance with the numbering of areas in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-section of FIG. 3, as indicated by the section line 44, illustrating the embossed flocked areas, the unflocked areas appearing as black color separation lines therebetween, as shown on both halves of the blank in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 illustrates the different. degrees of pressure applied to the transfer flap with the colored pencils, solid coloring (number only) being shown at the left, medium (number followed by letter M at the middle), and light (number followed by letter L at the right);

FIG. 6 illustrates the step of wetting the flocked areas by submersion in water until the flock is saturated;

FIG. 7 illustrates blotting with absorbent paper or the like for removal of excess Water from the flocked areas;

FIG. 8 illustrates the transfer operation in which the transfer flap half overlying the picture half to be colored is pressed down long enough to transfer coloring material from the flap to the picture and lightly enough to avoid flattening fibers of the flocked material;

FIGS. 9 and. 9A show two alternatives, FIG. 9 showing removal of the central picture area of the flap by tearing (or cutting) along perforation lines so that the rectangular border of the flap portion, which is printed on its back in a contrasting color may, when folded over the colored flocked picture, serve as a frame therefore, While FIG. 9A illustrates removal of the entire transfer flap by tearing (or cutting) along the perforation line between the flap and picture halves, as when a white border for the picture is preferred; and

FIG. 9B shows the completed picture as it appears when utilizing the border of the flap as a frame for the picture, utilizing the method illustrated in FIG. 9.

Similar reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts throughout the views.

Referring to the drawing, the reference numeral 10 designates a complete folder unit made in accordance with my invention consisting of a base picture blank of water-proof sheet material 11, such as white rigid vinyl, integral with a transfer flap 12 of the same dimensions as the picture blank and foldable t-hereover along the perforated line 13 at the middle. The picture half 11 has a suitable picture or design outline printed thereon as shown at 15, and a corresponding outline 16 is printed on the transfer half 12 in reverse with relation to the outline on the portion 11. The outlines 15 and 16, which match when overlaid on one another, are both printed in black on the white background furnished by the sheet of white rigid vinyl, and adhesive is applied in any suitable manner within the outline 15, after which the blank 11 is flocked as shown at 17 in FIGS. 3 and 4 with white rayon flock before the adhesive is dried. This flocking is water absorbent. Vinyl material, as is Well known, is water-repellent. The section FIG. 4 indicates how the flock 17 adheres to the areas imprinted with the adhesive, leaving the spaces 18 therebetween, that appear as black lines 15 in the pictures of FIGS. 3, 9, 9A .and 93. Although a fiber length of .030 is recommended for fine detail, .045" to .060" may be used for unusual effects where detail is not so important. The flocked areas appear embossed, as indicated at 17 in FIG. 4, while the unflocked areas 18, which are not embossed, appear as black lines, these latter being separation lines preventing colors from running into one another in the subsequent operation.

Coming now to the coloring of the flocked picture by the artist, this is a variation of the well known color by number operation, using water soluble coloring pencils like those indicated at 20 in FIG. 2, on the transfer flap 12. Assuming five colors are to be used, the five differently colored pencils will be numbered 1 to 5, as shown, and the areas to be colored on the transfer flap 12 will be numbered to correspond with this numbering of the pencils, as seen at 21 in FIG. 1. Thus, 1 is for magenta (red), 2 for yellow, 3 for blue, 4 for orange, and 5 for black. Where, for examle, the numeral 3 is used alone, this indicates solid blue with heavy pressure, giving the solid coloring illustrated at 22 in FIG. 5. On the other hand, if the designation is 3L, this means blue applied with light pressure, as illustrated at 23 in FIG. 5. The designation 4M calls for orange with medium pressure, as illustrated at 24 in FIG. 5. The designation 4/2 means solid yellow coloring with solid orange over it, and 5/4 means solid orange with solid black over it. A further variation indicated in FIG. 1 is 3/1M/2L which calls for light yellow covered with medium red followed with solid blue.

In FIG. 3 the artist, whose hand appears at 25, is coloring the area 1 in solid red, and, of course, ultimately colors all of the other areas in accordance with the numbering, in solid, medium, or light, mixing colors at three of the areas as indicated, 4/2 meaning solid orange over solid yellow, 5/4 meaning solid black over solid orange, and 3/1M/2L meaning light yellow covered by medium red and then solid blue. Using five colors and using solid, medium and light shades, it is possible to produce over one hundred different colors and shades. Of course, the artist has an opportunity in coloring the flap to exercise his or her ability to the fullest extent by shading with each pencil to get the desired highlights on rounded surfaces and also the proper shadow effect, assuming the light is coming from a certain direction in relation to the objects being illustrated. There is a further opportunity for the artist to exercise his or her ability to the fullest extent by varying the degree of pressure applied as well as varying the length of the transfer time as will next appear.

In operation, the first step is to immerse the picture half 11 in clear water, as shown at 26 in FIG. 6, using a shallow rectangular container 27 for this purpose. Then, after allowing the portion 11 to drain as much of the water therefrom as possible, blotting paper or the like is applied, as shown at 28 in FIG. 7, to remove the remaining excess Water, so that all of the flocked areas 17 are damp-dry, before the transfer flap 12 is folded over and pressed into contact with the flocked areas, as shown in FIG. 8, the two halves 11 and 12 being pressed together lightly and only long enough to transfer coloring material from the flap to the picture without flattening fibers of the flock material, the amount of color transfer being controlled, not only by varying the length of time given areas of the flap are in contact with corresponding areas of the picture, but also be concentrating the most finger pressure in those portions of the area where the most color transfer is desired and, if necessary, repeating the transfer operation one or more times on a selected area or areas. Separation of the flocked areas by the lines 15 prevents one color from running into another in the transfer operation and afterward. Due to the simplicity of the operation described and the beautiful full color flocked pictures obtainable, the present idea appeals to children and adults alike, and, of course, with some experience it is possible for one to color the most detailed picture in this fashion without extraordinary skill, with results like that obtained only by truly fine artists with water colors. At the end,

4 the transfer half 12 can be torn (or cut) off the picture half 11 along the line of perforations 13 at the middle of the unit 10, or, if instead of the white border 28, it is preferred to have a bordering frame 29 of a contrasting color provided on the back of the transfer half 12, it is a simple matter to tear (or cut) out the central rectangular portion 30 along the lines of perforations 31, as seen in FIG. 9, finally pasting the border frame 29 to the border portion of the picture half 11.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of my invention. While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, this is only for the purpose of illustration, and it is to be understood that various modifications in structure will occur to a person skilled in this art.

I claim:

1. In combination, for use in a method of making a colored picture having the appearance of water coloring, a. sheet of water resistant material with the outline of a picture or design thereon, an overlay sheet of water resistant material with the same picture or design outline thereon in the same size but in reverse and adapted to be registered with the first outline, water-soluble coloring material applicable in the overlay outline, water absorbent flock material applied in the first mentioned outline, and means insuring accurate registration of said outlines when the overlay sheet is superimposed on the first mentioned sheet, whereby, after all over dampening of the flock material with water and coloring of the overlay sheet with the coloring material, a colored picture having the appearance of water coloring is obtainable by sup-erimposing the overlay sheet outline on the other outline and pressing the sheets together lightly enough to avoid flattening of the fibers of the flock material.

2. The structure defined in claim 1, wherein the two sheets mentioned are hingedly connected to insure accurate registration of said outlines.

3. The structure defined in claim 1, wherein the two sheets mentioned are hingedly connected to insure accurate registration of said outlines, the two sheets being integral and connected by a line of perforations along which the sheets may be separated by tearing or cutting.

4. The structure defined in claim 1, wherein the two sheets mentioned are hingedly connected to insure accurate registration of said outlines, the two sheets being integral and connected by a line of perforations along which the sheets may be separated by tearing or cutting, and wherein the picture or design on the overlay sheet is in a central portion of the sheet outlined by a line or lines of perforations along which the central portion may be removed by tearing or cutting to leave a border portion adapted to serve as a border frame for the picture or design on the first sheet when placed in abutment with said sheet.

5. The structure defined in claim 1, including color separation lines within the borders of the picture or design outline on the first sheet and matching color separation lines within the borders of the picture or design outline on the overlay sheet, the water soluble coloring material including a plurality of different colors with which to color different areas of the outline on the overlay sheet, said color separation lines on the two sheets reducing the risk of colors running together and blurring the picture or design ultimately produced.

6. The structure of claim 5, wherein the different areas on the overlay sheet are given color captions and also captions with respect to the solid, medium or light coloring of said areas.

7. The structure of claim 5, wherein the different areas on the overlay sheet are given color captions and also captions with respect to the solid, medium or light coloring of said areas, and further captions relative to mixed colors so as to indicate the order with which two or more colors are to be applied on the overlay sheet.

8. The structure of claim 1, wherein the coloring material is a dry indelible material.

9. The structure of claim 5, wherein the coloring materials are of a dry indelible form.

10. The structure of claim 5, wherein the coloring materials are in dry pencil or crayon form, each numbered according to color designations on the different areas of the overlay sheet,

11. The structure of claim 5, wherein the coloring materials are in dry pencil or crayon form, each numbered according to color designations on the different areas of of the overlay sheet, the color designations being for solid, medium or light pressure.

12. The structure of claim 5, wherein the coloring materials are in dry pencil or crayon form, each numbered according to color designations on the different areas of 0f the overlay sheet, the color designations being for solid, medium or light pressure, and also for the order of application where more than one color is to be used.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS HARLAND S. SKOGQUIST, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 117-25 

